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Robertson falls short to Delabar in Final Vote

Robertson falls short to Delabar in Final Vote

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Robertson strikes out the side 0:36

7/11/13: David Robertson comes in to pitch the eighth inning and strikes out the side against the Royals

By Bryan Hoch
/
MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- David Robertson's Final Vote was quick to embrace the power of social media, but even a frenzied five hours of voting via Twitter were not enough to nudge the Yankees reliever into the final American League All-Star spot.

Robertson entered, and ended, the final day of voting, which was sponsored by freecreditscore.com, in second place among the AL candidates, trailing the Blue Jays' Steve Delabar, who won (Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman won in the NL). His supporters made a strong push with the Twitter hashtag #HighSocksForVotes, but he couldn't surpass Delabar's 9.6 million vote total to send Robertson across town to Citi Field for Tuesday's All-Star Game.

Robertson, 28, said that campaigning did not come naturally to him during the Final Vote process, but he tried to follow the lead of former teammate Nick Swisher to get his message out as loudly and as often as possible.

Huge congrats to @SteveDelabar_50. This was such an awesome experience and I can't thank Yankee fans enough for the support.

"It's been amazing what New York has done, especially my teammates and all the fans," Robertson said on Thursday before the results were announced.

"I'm more of a reserved guy. I don't really like the attention too much. It's been tough for me to campaign, as you'd say, and try to get votes. But I've had a great group behind me, especially the Yankees' PR staff. It's been an interesting experience, I'll say that."

As far as drumming up support, Robertson was largely successful. Even Mariano Rivera got into the act, hiking up his socks on the mound, while teammates like Joba Chamberlain and Vernon Wells cast votes for Robertson on MLB.com using tablets in the Yankees' dugout.

As a last-minute appeal on Thursday, Robertson and the Yankees also announced that the Alabama native would hold meet-and-greets with five lucky fans who voted using Twitter, further fueling the push for him to make the Midsummer Classic.

The only pitcher in history to record at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in his first five Major League seasons, Robertson was up against fellow Final Vote candidates Delabar, Joaquin Benoit of the Tigers (who finished third), Koji Uehara of the Red Sox (fourth) and Tanner Scheppers of the Rangers (fifth) to make the AL roster.

A 2011 All-Star, Robertson has a 4-1 record with a 2.17 ERA in 40 appearances, permitting nine earned runs and 23 hits in 37 1/3 innings while walking 12 and striking out 49.

Even though Robertson fell short, he said that he'll be busy during All-Star week. He is planning to be at Citi Field for the Chevrolet Home Run Derby on Monday as part of a promotional event for a new Lipton iced-tea product, and he's playing in a charity golf tournament on Wednesday in Bethpage, N.Y.

"It's going to be good," Robertson said.

The Yankees will be represented at the All-Star Game by second baseman Robinson Cano and Rivera. The two representatives comprise the Yanks' smallest All-Star contingent since 1993, when Wade Boggs and Jimmy Key were on the AL roster.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.